Person:Darkis Cross (1)

By Linda Cross

I don't have proof, but think I may have a clue about where Benjamin and Darkis (Dorcas?) went. Darkis' father Henry and her brother Shadrach (and family) moved from Greene County to Giles County, TN about 1810-1812. I was checking on Henry's Giles County census entry for 1820 and noticed his next door neighbor was on Benjamin Ishman, with wife & several children. There were also younger people in Henry's household, too young to be his children. As Henry was rather elderly in 1820, these may have been Essman grandchildren helping out with Grandpa...The wording of the clause hints that Benjamin and Darkis were already dead in 1841.

Posted by: Gene Essman

In Reply to: Re: Charles Edward Essman Family by Barbara Caine

I've done a little research on the Essman's in TN and have some information. There were four Essman marriages between 1795 and 1805 in Greene County, TN. One was a boy named Benjamin who married a girl named Darkis Cross. The father of these folks seems to have been a Thomas Essman who died in 1824 in McMinn County, TN. John Essman, who is in the 1830 census in McMinn County, TN was assigned to dispose of Thomas' personal property by court order, of which I have a copy.

Benjamin seemed to disappear from McMinn County, TN and I have been wondering if that is not how the Alabama branch came to be. The Thomas YOU refer to was about the right age to have been the son of this Benjamin. John and William who was also in McMinn County, TN in 1830 both left there. In 1840 William was in Roane County, TN and John went to MO. He died there in 1846. Thomas and John, as mentioned above, were both in KY in the 1820 census. They seem to be either brothers or, more likely, father and son. I am descended from John who would be my ggg-gftr. Please feel free to contact me and I;ll share whatever else I have that might be of interest to you.